There are races of people who are all slim,
who are stronger and faster than us. They all have straight teeth and perfect
eyesight. Arthritis, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, depression,
schizophrenia and cancer are absolute rarities for them. These people are the
last 84 tribes of hunter-gatherers in the world. They share a secret that is
over 2 million years old. Their secret is their diet- a diet that has changed
little from that of the first humans 2 million years ago, and their predecessors
up to 7 million years ago. Theirs is the diet that man evolved on, the diet that
is coded for in our genes. It has some major differences to the diet of
"civilization". You are in for a few big surprises.

The diet is usually referred to as the
"Paleolithic Diet" referring to the Paleolithic or Stone Age era. It
is also referred to as the "Stone Age Diet", "Cave Man Diet"
or the "Hunter-Gatherer Diet". More romantic souls like to think of it
as the diet that was eaten in the "Garden of Eden" and they are
correct in thinking so.

The basic principles of the Paleolithic Diet
are so simple that most high school students can understand them. Within 15
minutes from now you will grasp the major elements. At the technical level,
Paleolithic Diet Theory has a depth and breadth that is unmatched by all other
dietary theories. Paleolithic Diet Theory presents a fully integrated, holistic,
comprehensive dietary theory combining the best features of all other dietary
theories, eliminating the worst features and simplifying it all.

All major dietary components are covered-
(i.e. vitamins, fats, protein, fats, carbohydrates, antioxidants and
phytosterols etc). This is for the simple reason that it is the only diet that
is coded for in our genes- it contains only those foods that were "on the
table" during our long evolution, and discards those which were not. Have
you ever wondered why almost everybody feels the need to take vitamin
supplementsat times, or why so many people feel the need to "detoxify"
their system? There are very real reasons for this that you will soon
understand. Now, come with me, Iíd like to share the secret with you...

Basics of the Paleolthic Diet

For millions of years, humans and their
relatives have eaten meat, fish, fowl and the leaves, roots and fruits of many
plants. One big obstacle to getting more calories from the environment is the
fact that many plants are inedible. Grains, beans and potatoes are full of
energy but all are inedible in the raw state as they contain many toxins. There
is no doubt about that- please donít try to eat them raw, they can make you
very sick.

Around 10,000 years ago, an enormous
breakthrough was made- a breakthrough that was to change the course of history,
and our diet, forever. This breakthrough was the discovery that cooking these
foods made them edible- the heat destroyed enough toxins to render them edible.
Grains include wheat, corn, barley, rice, sorghum, millet and oats. Grain based
foods also include products such as flour, bread, noodles and pasta. These foods
entered the menu of New Stone Age (Neolithic) man, and Paleolithic diet buffs
often refer to them as Neolithic foods.

The cooking of grains, beans and potatoes
had an enormous effect on our food intake- perhaps doubling the number of
calories that we could obtain from the plant foods in our environment. Other
advantages were soon obvious with these foods:

∑ they could store for long periods
(refrigeration of course being unavailable in those days)

∑ they were dense in calories- ie a small
weight contains a lot of calories, enabling easy transport

∑ the food was also the seed of the plant-
later allowing ready farming of the species

These advantages made it much easier to
store and transport food. We could more easily store food for winter, and for
nomads and travelers to carry supplies. Food storage also enabled surpluses to
be stored, and this in turn made it possible to free some people from food
gathering to become specialists in other activities, such as builders, warriors
and rulers. This in turn set us on the course to modern day civilization.
Despite these advantages, our genes were never developed with grains, beans and
potatoes and were not in tune with them, and still are not. Man soon improved
further on these advances- by farming plants and animals.

Instead of being able to eat only a fraction
of the animal and plant life in an area, farming allows us to fill a particular
area with a large number of edible plants and animals. This in turn increases
the number of calories that we can obtain from an area by some 10 to 100 fold or
more. Then followed the harnessing of dairy products, which allow man to obtain
far more calories from the animal over its lifetime than if it were simply
slaughtered for meat. Dairy products are interesting as they combine a variety
of components- some of which our genes were ready for and some not. Whist cows
milk is ideal for calves, there are several very important differences between
it and human milk. For example, the brain of a calf is only a tiny fraction of
its body weight whereas humans have very big brains. Not surprisingly, cows milk
is low in critical nutrients for brain development, particularly omeg 3 fats.

Paleolithic Diet buffs refer to the new
foods as Neolithic foods and the old as Paleolithic Diet foods. In simple terms
we see Neolithic as bad and Paleolithic as good. Since then, some other
substances have entered the diet- particularly salt and sugar, and more recently
a litany of chemicals including firstly caffeine then all other additives,
colourings, preservatives, pesticides etc.

Grains, Beans and Potatoes (GBP) share the
following important characteristics:

∑ They are all toxic when raw- there is no
doubt about this- it is a fact that no competent source would dispute- they can
be extremely dangerous and it is important never to eat them raw or undercooked.
These toxins include enzyme blockers, lectins and other types. I will talk about
them in detail later as they are very important.

∑ Cooking destroys most but not all
of the toxins. Insufficient cooking can lead to sickness such as acute
gastroenteritis.

∑ They are all rich sources of
carbohydrate, and once cooked this is often rapidly digestible-giving a high
glycemic index (sugar spike).

∑ Have a high glycemic index (ie have a
similar effect to raw sugar on blood glucose levels)

∑ Are low in many vitamins, minerals,
antioxidants and phytosterols- ie they are the original "empty
calories"

∑ Have problems caused by the GBP
displacing other foods

As grains, beans and potatoes form such a
large proportion of the modern diet, you can now understand why it is so common
for people to feel they need supplements or that they need to detoxify (ie that
they have toxins in their system)- indeed both feelings are absolutely correct.
Unfortunately, we donít necessarily realize which supplements we need, and
ironically when people go on detoxification diets they unfortunately often
consume even more Neolithic foods (eg soy beans) and therefore more toxins than
usual (perhaps they sometimes benefit from a change in toxins). More detail on
these issues follows in subsequent pages.

∑ Organ meats- liver and kidneys (I accept
that many people find these unpalatable and wonít eat them)

Expect some minor tuning problems- donít
worry, you can deal with them:

∑ It will take some time for your body to
adjust to the changes after all these years. There is a huge surge in your
vitamin intake. There is a huge decrease in your toxin intake.

∑ Start with breakfast for few days, as
this is the easiest place to start as most people eat it at home, and it tends
to be the least Paleolithic meal of the standard 3. For weight loss you will
eventually need to reduce your carbohydrate intake, but ignore this initially as
most people have high carb intakes and this can continue for the first few days
that you are on this diet. If you reduce too quickly then you may fell unwell.
Then move on to lunch or dinner for a few days and then to all 3 meals. If you
work, you will often find it easier to take your lunch to work.

∑ Keep reading more about the diet- and
read it again. Remember, there are many dietary myths that will need to be
unlearned. Particularly, please read the section on fats several times.
Knowledge on fats has exploded over the last decade and there is a realization
in mainstream nutrition that omega 3 fats are critical to good health. It is
very important to ensure that you have an adequate intake of these. The low fat
diet craze of the 90ís was well intentioned but many people "threw out
the baby with the bath-water"- most people reduced omega 3 fat intake as
well as other fats, and sometimes even increased omega 6 fats. There is now a
realization that the low fat diet theory of the 90ís doesnít often work (it
has about a 6% success rate like most other diets) and that the vast majority of
the Western population need to increase their omega 3 intake and decrease their
omega 6 intake. Even if you donít end up on a Paleolithic Diet, you will
benefit from a better appreciation of fats.

Technical Aspects:

12,000 years ago the ice planet Earth thawed
out as the last Ice Age came to an end. The great glaciers melted, carving
enormous plains across the continents and the planet became green again. The
seas rose some 400 feet (120 metres) (incidentally unfortunately drowning most
of our archeological heritage). The plains flourished and savannah, prairie and
forest sprang up. Grazing animals spread onto the plains, followed by hunting
animals and amongst these last were the greatest hunters of all- humans. Humans,
being omnivores, have the ability to eat both plant and animal foods. That is a
major advantage as the number of creatures that can live in a particular habitat
depends entirely on how much energy they can obtain. To make a crude example-
imagine you are breeding monkeys on 100 acres of land and the only edible plant
there is bananas. If you double the number of banana plants, then you can double
the number of monkeys on the land.

You might instead introduce apple trees and
have the same effect. The number of monkeys would depend entirely on how many
calories they could obtain from the environment. The carrying capacity of the
habitat for a species depends on how many calories the species can obtain.
Humans are no different. They have a major advantage in being able to eat both
plant and animals foods thereby harvesting enormous amounts of calories from the
environment. Humans learnt to cook grains, beans and potatoes and increased
further the number of plant food calories they can obtain from the environment-
probably doubling it in most habitats, and even more on grasslands.

The reason why grains, beans and potatoes
store so well is simply because of the toxins that they contain. The enzyme
blockers put them into a deep freeze, stopping them from sprouting. The lectins
and other toxins are natural pesticides and can attack bacteria, insects, worms,
rodents and other pests (and humans too of course).

ANTINUTRIENTS- YOUR KEY TO BAD HEALTH

You probably already know a lot about
nutrients- macronutrients (fats, protein and carbohydrates and micronutrients
(vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, phytosterols etc). Now it's time to meet the
rest of the family....... We all know that foods contain a variety of nutrients.
There is less awareness that many foods contain small amounts of potentially
harmful substances. These are toxins, as they have toxic effects. They are
normally called "antinutrients" by the scientific community as toxins
sounds too alarmist. Antinutrients are very real and for over 100 years research
has been done on them- but it is generally only appreciated by a small group of
specialized scientists. Antinutrients have an incredible range of biological
effects. As you have probably already guessed, the vast majority and highest
levels of antinutrients are in Neolithic foods like grains, beans and potatoes.
The Paleolithic diet has incredibly low levels of antinutrients compared to the
usual modern diet. I believe that this is the number one advantage of the diet.

Textbooks on antinutrients read like books
on what not to eat- Neolithic foods are the most prominent. Professor Irvin
Liener published one of the most famous of these books in 1980. In the first
chapter he points out that when we started cooking inedible plants, new toxins
entered the diet for the first time. Ironically, he wasnít trying to promote
Paleolithic diets- his aim was to help agricultural scientists more safely feed
the world on grains, beans and potatoes.

Itís a technical subject, and Iíll do my
best to make it clear to you.

Consider our friend, the apple. When an
animal eats an apple, it profits by getting a meal. It swallows the seeds and
then deposits them in a pile of dung. With some luck a new apple tree might
grow, and so the apple tree has also profited from the arrangement. In nature as
in finance, it is good business when both parties make profit happily. Consider
what would happen if the animal were greedy and decided to eat the few extra
calories contained within the apple seeds- then there would be no new apple tree
to continue on the good work. So, to stop this from happening, the apple seeds
contain toxins that have multiple effects:

* firstly, they taste bad- discouraging the
animal from chewing them

* secondly some toxins are enzyme blockers
that bind up predators digestive enzymes- these also act as
"preservatives" freezing the apple seed enzymes until sprouting- Upon
sprouting of the seed, many of these enzyme blockers disappear.

* thirdly, they contain lectins- these are
toxic proteins which have numerous effects. They act as natural pesticides and
are also toxic to a range of other species including bacteria, insects, worms,
rodents and other predators including humans .

Of course, the apple has other defenses- to
start with it is high above the ground well out of reach of casual predators,
and it also has the skin and flesh of the apple to be penetrated first. Above
all though is the need to stop the seed from being eaten, so that new apple
trees may grow.

Now, please consider the humble grain. Once
again as a seed its duty is mission critical- it must perpetuate the life cycle
of the plant. It is however much closer to the ground, on the tip of a grass
stalk. It is within easy reach of any predator strolling by. It contains a good
source of energy, like a booster rocket for the new plant as it grows. The grain
is full of energy and in a vulnerable position. It was "expensive" for
the plant to produce. It is an attractive meal. Its shell offers little
protection. Therefore, it has been loaded with toxic proteins to discourage
predators- grains are full of enzyme blockers and lectins. You may be surprised
to learn that uncooked flour is very toxic- please don't try eating it as you
become very sick. And yes, I don't recommend al dente pasta (if one must eat
pasta at all).

Beans too are full of enzyme blockers and
lectins. Potatoes contain enzyme blockers, lectins and another family of toxins
called glycoalkaloids. Glycoalkaloids (GA) unlike lectins and enzyme blockers
aren't destroyed by cooking, even deep-frying. GA are particularly high in green
or injured potatoes, which must never be eaten even if trimmed heavily and
well-cooked. Many people have told me that they eat small amounts of raw potato-
this is a dangerous habit and it should be discouraged very strongly.

These toxins in foods are commonly referred
to as antinutrients. Let's learn some more about them:

Enzyme Blockers: These enzyme blockers are
abundant in all seeds including grains and beans, and also in potatoes, serving
to hold them in suspended animation and also acting as pesticides. Most commonly
they block the enzymes that digest protein (proteases), and are called
"protease inhibitors". They can affect the stomach protease enzyme
"pepsin", and the small intestine protease enzymes "trypsin"
and "chymotrypsin". These small intestine enzymes are made by the
pancreas (it does a lot of other important things besides making insulin). Some
enzyme blockers affect the enzymes that digest starch (amylase) and are called
"amylase inhibitors".

When GBP are cooked, most of the enzyme
blockers are destroyed, but some are not. In human volunteers and in animal
experiments high levels of protease inhibitors lead to increased secretion of
digestive enzymes by the pancreas. This is because the body can sense that the
enzymes have been knocked out and orders to pancreas to make more. Even if the
effect of GBP based foods is only a small increase in pancreatic enzyme
secretion, over many years it all adds up to a lot of extra work.

They are effective poisons- rats cannot gain
weight if they have substantial amounts of enzyme blockers in the diet. As far
as their preservative action is concerned, I need only to remind you that the
potted grains in the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs were still viable and
sprouted after thousands of years locked away.

Lectins are natural proteins that have a
large variety of roles. They are amongst the most fascinating and stimulating of all
biological compounds, and I have no doubt that they play a major role in many
"unexplained " diseases. I think of them as "Hannibal Lectins"
as they remind of the devious criminal mastermind in the shock horror movie
"Silence of the Lambs.' Lectins are like master code-breakers. The cells of
our bodies are studded with receptors which are like code pads to ensure
stimulation only under the correct circumstances. Lectins have the ability to
crack these codes and stimulate the receptors causing a variety of responses-
covering basically the full repertoire of the cell and even tricking the cell
into doing things it normally cannot do.

They also have a knack for bypassing our
defenses and "getting behind the lines", and then they can travel all
over the body causing harm. They can, for example:

--strip protective mucus off tissues,

--damage the cells lining the small
intestine- disrupting the microscopic fingers called villi and microvilli,

--get swallowed whole by the small intestine
cells ("pinocytosis")

--bind to cells including blood cells
causing a clot to form (hence they were initially called "haemagglutins")

--cause cells to present codes (HLA's) that
they normally should not use

--cause cell death (apoptosis)

Lectins break down the surface of the small
intestine, stripping it of mucus and causing the cells to become irregular and
leaky. Some lectins make cells act as if they have been stimulated by insulin.
Others cause the pancreas to release insulin. Others cause immune cells to
divide in the wrong way, causing growth of some white blood cells and breaking
down the control of the immune system. Others cause cells to present the wrong
codes (HLA's) on their surface, tricking the immune system into thinking that
intruders have been found and activating the immune system inappropriately- thus
leading to "autoimmune disease" where the body's tissues are attacked
by its own immune system.

Autoimmune diseases are incredibly common
and increase every year that a person gets older. A disordered immune system
also has a much harder job recognizing and attacking the real intruders-
invading germs and cancer cells (you may have heard that scientists think that
most people generate many cancer cells in a life time but that the immune system
cleans most of them up).

It is not known whether lectins can cause
cancer- this is one of the most important questions in medicine today. They
certainly affect colon cells in the test tube. I feel that they are likely
candidates as they can stimulate abnormal cell growth and they also cause
disorder in the immune system.

Lectins have many other roles besides
defending seeds. For example in beans, lectins act like a glue to enable
nitrogen-fixing bacteria to bind to the roots of the plant. Many important
lectin families are found in animal tissues, but as we are carnivores, we have
evolved to be able to deal with these- just as birds that live on grains have
evolved to be resistant to grain lectins.

It is ironic that the lectins were
discovered more than 100 years ago and yet so many questions remain unanswered-
the same was true of the immune system until the 1980ís. I hope that there is
more research done into lectins as they hold a whole world of disease mechanisms
of which most of the medical community is blissfully unaware.

Exorphins:

Exorphins are food chemicals that have
morphine-like activity. They are found in dairy products and wheat. Our body has
its own natural morphine like substances that are called endorphins. Endorphins
work by stimulating a type of nerve cell surface receptor called endorphin
receptors. Endorphins are very important in controlling pain and addictive
behaviour.

Exorphins also act on endorphin receptors
and may stimulate them or block them. It is logical that exorphins may therefore
affect chronic pain and also affect addictive behaviour.